Derivative Financial Instruments in the Energy and Aluminum Markets

Aluminum is an exchange commodity. But physical trading of this metal in most cases does not occur on the stock exchange, since more than 90% of aluminum sales with physical delivery occur under direct contracts between producers and buyers of the metal (over-the-counter market). Aluminum as an exchange commodity has standardized consumer properties, namely: the goods are interchangeable, easily transported and stored, and can be divided into batches. That is why upstream products are traded on commodity exchanges, not semifinished products or finished products. When commodity exchanges were first created, they served as a place for concluding physical contracts for the supply of such exchange-traded goods, but with the increase in trading volumes and the development of financial instruments, the role of exchanges has changed. Today, futures contracts for raw materials are traded on them – financial instruments that almost never entail a real physical supply (at the same time, this possibility is not excluded). As a result of the bidding, a price is set that serves as a guideline for producers and consumers around the world.